Semiconductor plasmon laser

Volker J. Sorger; Rupert F. Oulton; Thomas Zentgraf; Renmin Ma; Christopher Gladden; Lun Dai; Guy Bartal; Xiang Zhang

doi:10.1117/12.859136

10 September 2010 Semiconductor plasmon laser

Volker J. Sorger, Rupert F. Oulton, Thomas Zentgraf, Renmin Ma, Christopher Gladden, Lun Dai, Guy Bartal, Xiang Zhang

Proceedings Volume 7757, Plasmonics: Metallic Nanostructures and Their Optical Properties VIII; 77570U (2010) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.859136
Event: SPIE NanoScience + Engineering, 2010, San Diego, California, United States

Abstract

Laser science has tackled physical limitations to achieve higher power, faster and smaller light sources. The quest for ultra-compact laser that can directly generate coherent optical fields at the nano-scale, far beyond the diffraction limit of light, remains a key fundamental challenge. Microscopic lasers based on photonic crystals3, metal clad cavities4 and nanowires can now reach the diffraction limit, which restricts both the optical mode size and physical device dimension to be larger than half a wavelength. While surface plasmons are capable of tightly localizing light, ohmic loss at optical frequencies has inhibited the realization of truly nano-scale lasers. Recent theory has proposed a way to significantly reduce plasmonic loss while maintaining ultra-small modes by using a hybrid plasmonic waveguide. Using this approach, we report an experimental demonstration of nano-scale plasmonic lasers producing optical modes 100 times smaller than the diffraction limit, utilizing a high gain Cadmium Sulphide semiconductor nanowire atop a Silver surface separated by a 5 nm thick insulating gap. Direct measurements of emission lifetime reveal a broad-band enhancement of the nanowire's exciton spontaneous emission rate up to 6 times due to the strong mode confinement and the signature of apparently threshold-less lasing. Since plasmonic modes have no cut-off, we show downscaling of the lateral dimensions of both device and optical mode. As these optical coherent sources approach molecular and electronics length scales, plasmonic lasers offer the possibility to explore extreme interactions between light and matter, opening new avenues in active photonic circuits, bio-sensing and quantum information technology.

Citation Download Citation

Volker J. Sorger, Rupert F. Oulton, Thomas Zentgraf, Renmin Ma, Christopher Gladden, Lun Dai, Guy Bartal, and Xiang Zhang "Semiconductor plasmon laser", Proc. SPIE 7757, Plasmonics: Metallic Nanostructures and Their Optical Properties VIII, 77570U (10 September 2010); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.859136

ACCESS THE FULL ARTICLE

INSTITUTIONAL
Select your institution to access the SPIE Digital Library.

SELECT YOUR INSTITUTION

PERSONAL
Sign in with your SPIE account to access your personal subscriptions or to use specific features such as save to my library, sign up for alerts, save searches, etc.

PERSONAL SIGN IN

No SPIE Account? Create one

PURCHASE THIS CONTENT

SUBSCRIBE TO DIGITAL LIBRARY

50 downloads per 1-year subscription

Members: $195

Non-members: $335 ADD TO CART

25 downloads per 1 - year subscription

Members: $145

Non-members: $250 ADD TO CART

PURCHASE SINGLE ARTICLE

Includes PDF, HTML & Video, when available

Members: $17.00

Non-members: $21.00 ADD TO CART

PROCEEDINGS
7 PAGES

DOWNLOAD PAPER SAVE TO MY LIBRARY

GET CITATION

RIGHTS & PERMISSIONS

Get copyright permission Get copyright permission on Copyright Marketplace

KEYWORDS

Plasmonics

Nanowires

Semiconductor lasers

Plasmons

Semiconductors

Cadmium sulfide

Diffraction

Show All Keywords

Keywords/Phrases

Search In:

Publication Years